| | The NHL playoffs are in full swing, but the picture still remains fuzzy in the East, says ESPN analyst Bill Clement.
The former player turned analyst was back in chat for his weekly visit and talked about the muddled bracket in the East. He also talked about the surprising San Jose Sharks and predicted where Kevin Constantine may end up next season.
An edited transcript from Clement's April 21 chat follows.
Bill Clement: Hello from St. Louis. And boy, does this thing have the Blues! Let's talk hockey.
Jim: What's your gut feeling about (Friday)? Will the Blues regroup and make this a series or are
they going to pack it in for the summer? And what does Marc Bergevin say about throwing the puck
in his own net?
Bill Clement:
I think the Blues will regroup and win as long as they stop whining. They are playing this
on bad bounces and poor officiating. One bad call or bounce shouldn't be enough to beat the
best team in hockey.
As far as Marc is concerned, I don't know. I didn't have a chance to talk
to the Blues yet. They skated out of town at their practice rink Friday morning.
Bruce: Now that the Flyers have eliminated Buffalo, what is stopping them from going for the Cup
(especially in the conference with the most parity)?
Also, I have this recollection of you calling games with Mike Emerick. Did you two ever
work together for any length of time?
Bill Clement: Your fantasies are real. Mike and I worked together for three years at ESPN and four in
Philly.
I've said all along, the East is wide open. So the Flyers are a threat to be a
Stanley Cup finalist. But whoever gets out of the West will be really tough to beat.
Danny: If the Avs and Red Wings play in the second round, who do you think will win that series?
Bill Clement:
Funny you should ask that. A bunch of us were standing around talking about the same thing on Friday. To be honest, we were all scratching our heads. Believe or not, it's too close to
call. I guess if someone put a gun to my head, I would predict double OT in Game 7. They
really are evenly matched.
Dennis: What do you think of the Dallas-Edmonton series? I think it has been one of best series so far.
Bill Clement: Those two teams always play an entertaining brand of hockey, and Friday will be terrific. Some
of the other series have been fantastic too. Washington-Pittsburgh has been exciting, and
Philly-Buffalo was really hard fought. The Blues and Sharks series has been dandy as well. So
there's lots to go around for everybody.
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The former NHL All-Star, who played for 11 years in the NHL with Philadelphia, Washington
and Calgary, is the game analyst for ESPN's extensive schedule of National Hockey Night
telecasts. In 1992-93, he served as ESPN's NHL studio analyst.
Clement first served as ESPN's NHL game analyst from 1986 to 1988. From 1988 to 1992, he
was the analyst for Philadelphia Flyers games on PRISM (a regional cable service in
Philadelphia) and a playoff analyst during the Stanley Cup Finals for SportsChannel America. He
received the 1992 CableACE Award for his work in the playoffs. He also worked Flyers local
over-the-air telecasts (WGBS-TV from 1988-91 and WPHL-TV 1991-92). He was an ice-level
reporter for NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game in 1992 and '93. Clement served as an
analyst for TNT at the 1992 Winter Olympics and as the studio analyst for the 1991 Canada Cup
on CTV (Canada).
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El Diablo: Now that New Jersey has gotten past the first round, what do you think about their chances?
Bill Clement:
They are definitely capable of winning the East, but they had better be ready for the second
round because Florida didn't put up much of a fight and isn't really that good of a team when it
comes right down to it. So it's tough to say how good New Jersey is right now. We'll find out in
round two.
Ray: What do you think are the major differences between Chris Pronger and Derian Hatcher? Who
would you rather have on your team -- if you could only have one?
Bill Clement:
The differences are Pronger is better with the puck and Hatcher hits more. In today's NHL, I
would always pick the puck mover.
Anne: The Sharks are bigger than the Blues. They are faster than the Blues. They are out-hitting the
Blues by a wide margin, and (no coincidence) they are winning the series 3-1. So how come all
the ESPN guys can talk about is the crybaby Blues? How come no one gives any credit to
Owen Nolan and the Sharks for beating those guys?
Bill Clement:
Maybe we are talking about St. Louis because they won the President's Trophy, something the
Sharks haven't come even close to in nine years. The Blues were the best regular-season team,
better than Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, Philly, New Jersey. That's why we are talking about them
so much. For a Sharks fan, this is about the Sharks leading the series 3-1. For the rest of the
hockey world, it's about St. Louis trailing in a series 3-1. Don't worry, when the Sharks win the
series -- and they should -- we'll have no choice but to be screaming really loud about them.
Ponyexpress: Are the Penguins one-dimensional, with Jaromir Jagr being one heckuva dimension, or do they have
enough to go deep into the playoffs?
Bill Clement:
They have enough to go deep. Alexei Kovalev has come alive, Martin Straka is always a threat, Robert Lang is a
good two-way center, and Herb Brooks has done a great job making all of his role players feel they are important. If you feel important, you play important. Ron Tugnutt is hot, and the locker
room is happy to have him. I think the Penguins are a threat to get out of the East. But
remember, the East is wide open. No sure things.
Mike: I never saw Eric Lindros present at any of the Flyers-Sabers games. Do you know if he was
ever at any of the games, and if not, don't you think that's kind of unusual?
Bill Clement: I don't know whether he was there or not, but nothing that happens with this situation surprises
me. Would Eric help the team if he returned? Right now, I don't think so. They have harmony,
they are all on the same page, and they have proven they can win without him. And there are
still a number of players who don't respect Eric as a team player. As far as I'm concerned, if it
ain't broke, don't fix it.
WingsFan: Should Detroit worry about the long layoff? They could face a Colorado team that will have
less rest and home-ice advantage.
Bill Clement:
Detroit seems to be able to handle layoffs really well. They are all veterans, and have been
through every playoff scenario. It's better than playing seven games and getting no layoff.
Ramsey Fan: Will Neilson come back this playoffs, or is Ramsey the coach for the remainder of the year?
Bill Clement:
I think this has yet to be determined. I know Roger wants to get back. But with the job Ramsay
has done, I think Roger is a good enough team player to not want to interrupt what is working
perfectly so far. Teams sometimes become very fragile in the playoffs in the sense that they
don't want to have their rhythm disrupted. And right now the Flyers have a lot of rhythm.
Howie: Now that St. Louis is on the verge of going home, who do you think can make it out of the
West?
Bill Clement:
There were always four favorites in the West -- St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado and Dallas. If one of
them disappears, that leaves three favorites.
Ivan Daglio: Is Kevin Constantine a
good choice to coach the Rangers, or should he go to one of the expansion teams?
Bill Clement:
I think Kevin would be better with younger players on an expansion team rather than older
players making $5 million a year. Kevin's come a long way, but he's still pretty intense. And
intensity is not a quality that helps a coach when he has a veteran team.
Gary: Can the Senators win in Toronto?
Bill Clement:
Sure, why not?
Connie: Do you think Cujo should have been suspended for his "rampage" against the referee?
Bill Clement:
No, I don't. Yes, he was emotionally over the edge. But he didn't push, punch or touch
McGeough until he slipped and fell. Plus, I agreed with CuJo; that goal should have been
disallowed. Daniel Alfredsson fought his way into the crease until and Cory Cross was trying to hold him
out. He was clearly in the paint when the goal was scored. For all we know, the puck might
have glanced off his leg. This hardly fits the no-harm, no-foul definition. I think we have
overcorrected and gone too far the other way allowing any goal to stand no matter who is in the
crease.
Steve: Do you think that Buffalo got a bad break in the playoffs as far as officiating goes? They had
some controversial calls and John LeClair's phantom goal.
Bill Clement:
There is no question a couple of calls went against Buffalo. But when it came right down to it, I
don't think they were good enough to beat the Flyers. Doug Gilmour never got strong enough to
be a factor, Brian Boucher was equally as good as Dominik Hasek, and the Flyers power play seems
almost unstoppable. Remember, the Sabres were a No. 8 seed. Last year they were a No. 7
seed. You can't expect a team to come alive every year in the playoffs unless they are a very
good team. And the Sabres have proven in the regular season that they aren't.
Danny: Do you think Ray Bourque will remain an Avs player for the next one or two years if they win the Cup?
Bill Clement:
Yes, I do. I think he will stay even if they don't win the Cup.
Jonny: How much has the absence of Mike Grier hurt Edmonton? Do you think they can still pull off
the comeback-upset?
Bill Clement:
Against another team, maybe, but not against Dallas. And we'll never know how much Grier's
absence hurt Edmonton. But I do know that when you play Dallas you need every big, strong
forward you can find.
Mike in Denver: Why does the NHL continue to be stubborn with suspensions? The Buffalo stick swing on
Daymond Langkow gets one game while the Devils stick swing in the regular season gets 10 games? Is
the NHL afraid to suspend a player for the playoffs?
Bill Clement:
I think so. There is so much money at stake for the owners that the NHL office doesn't want to
influence a team's ability to bring in more revenue. Suspensions have always been noticeably
less severe in the playoffs than the regular season. When you hear somebody say it's war out
there, they mean it.
John: Some friends are suggesting Eric Lindros, when he returns, be placed on the third line. If you
were coach, where would you place him in the lineup?
Bill Clement:
If I put him back in the lineup, I'd have to put him in a key position on one of the top two lines.
If I didn't, I would be creating a bigger problem.
Eric: Is Pavol Demitra's post-concussion syndrome more severe than anyone first suspected? Might
he have to sit out into next season also?
Bill Clement:
I wish I could help you there. I'm not a doctor, and I don't think anybody really knows. You
have to measure these things every couple of weeks. The answer to your question is yes,
possibly, but maybe not.
D. Landes: What's up with Pierre Turgeon and Al MacInnis? After a great playoffs last year, they both have
disappeared.
Bill Clement:
MacInnis has 21 shots in four games, so he has hardly disappeared. But I agree with you:
Turgeon must elevate his game for the Blues to have any chance to prolong this series. It was
right about this time last season when the Blues were down to the Coyotes and Turgeon came
alive. He's running out of time this season.
Geoff Folsom: How big an advantage for the Stars is the poor ice at Reunion?
Bill Clement:
I think it's an advantage because the Stars are not a puck-control team as much as they are a
puck-pursuit team. Bad ice hurts finesse players more than grinders because the puck jumps off
their sticks. It's hard to complete good passes or get away good shots. Since the Stars have a
roster full of grinders, that ice isn't that big of a deal. That ice also hurts the team trying to play
catch-up. When you are ahead, all you have to do is dump it out or dump it in. When you are
behind, you have to make plays.
Cliff Chin: In the Los Angeles-Detroit series I thought Chris Osgood played phenomenal. I know all the series
aren't done, but do you think Osgood has been the best goaltender in the playoffs thus far?
Bill Clement:
It's tough for me to pick one, although Osgood is right there. Did you catch Martin Brodeur's act last night? And Brian Boucher has been terrific for Philadelphia. Having not seen all the games, it's tough
to pick, but I saw Osgood win two games. And there's no question, he's in the zone right now.
Heavy D: Do you think the loud fans at the San Jose Arena made a huge
difference in the series so far? Does that help pump up a team?
Bill Clement:
There's no question that that kind of support revs you up as a player. Emotion is such an
important part of playoff hockey, and great crowds lead to extra emotion. It will be interesting
to see what the Blues crowd is like at the Kiel Center (Friday). I expect it will be really noisy.
I have to head to the rink now. Thanks for all your questions, and I'll see you tonight at 7 p.m. ET on
ESPN.
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